China's Space Program News Thread
- Thread starter crazyinsane105
- Start date
- Status
Quickie
Colonel
Looks like only the cotton seeds started to germinate. The rest of the plants and organisms remained dormant. What could be the reason? Radiation of cosmic origin, or in the Van Allen Belt causing havoc to living organisms? Lack of gravity on the moon's surface?
China Focus: Moon sees first cotton-seed sprout
CHONGQING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- One of the cotton seeds carried to the moon by China's Chang'e-4 probe is the first ever to sprout on the moon, according to scientists of a mini biosphere experiment Tuesday.
After making the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, China's Chang'e-4 mission pioneered the first mini biosphere experiment on the moon.
Professor Xie Gengxin, of Chongqing University and chief designer of the experiment, said a canister installed on the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe contained the seeds of cotton, rapeseed, potato and Arabidopsis, as well as eggs of the fruit fly and some yeast, to form a simple mini biosphere.
Images sent by the probe showed that a cotton sprout had started to grow, though no other plants were found growing.
The cylinder canister, made from special aluminum alloy materials, is 198 mm tall, with a diameter of 173 mm and a weight of 2.6 kg. It also holds water, soil, air, two small cameras and a heat control system, Xie said.
More than 170 pictures have been taken by the cameras and sent back to Earth, according to the team.
Why were these species chosen?
Xie said potatoes could be a major source of food for future space travelers. The growth period of Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard, is short and easy to observe. Yeast could play a role in regulating carbon dioxide and oxygen in the mini biosphere, and the fruit fly would be a consumer of the photosynthesis process.
Researchers used biological technology to render the seeds and eggs dormant during the two months when the probe went through the final checks in the launch center and journey of more than 20 days through space.
After Chang'e-4 landed on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3, the ground control center instructed the probe to water the plants to start the growing process. A tube directs natural light on the surface of the moon into the canister to allow the plants to grow.
The Chang'e-4 probe entered a "sleep mode" on Sunday as the first lunar night after the probe's landing fell. The temperature could drop as low as about minus 170 degrees centigrade.
"Life in the canister would not survive the lunar night," Xie said.
The experiment has ended. The organisms will gradually decompose in the totally enclosed canister, and will not affect the lunar environment, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Although astronauts have cultivated plants on the International Space Station, and rice and Arabidopsis were grown on China's Tiangong-2 space lab, those experiments were conducted in low-Earth orbit, at an altitude of about 400 km. The environment on the moon, 380,000 kilometers from Earth, is more complex.
"We had no such experience before. And we could not simulate the lunar environment, such as microgravity and cosmic radiation, on Earth," Xie said.
Researchers expect the experiment may help acquire knowledge for building a lunar base and long-term residence on the moon.
Xie said the experiment was aimed at inspiring young people's enthusiasm for space exploration, and popularizing science such as photosynthesis.
The public, especially young people, have been encouraged to participate in the Chang'e-4 mission. The CNSA, the Ministry of Education, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Association for Science and Technology and other organizations launched a contest among students across China in 2015, collecting ideas on the design of the payloads. The "lunar mini biosphere" experiment was selected from more than 250 submissions.
China Focus: Moon sees first cotton-seed sprout
CHONGQING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- One of the cotton seeds carried to the moon by China's Chang'e-4 probe is the first ever to sprout on the moon, according to scientists of a mini biosphere experiment Tuesday.
After making the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, China's Chang'e-4 mission pioneered the first mini biosphere experiment on the moon.
Professor Xie Gengxin, of Chongqing University and chief designer of the experiment, said a canister installed on the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe contained the seeds of cotton, rapeseed, potato and Arabidopsis, as well as eggs of the fruit fly and some yeast, to form a simple mini biosphere.
Images sent by the probe showed that a cotton sprout had started to grow, though no other plants were found growing.
The cylinder canister, made from special aluminum alloy materials, is 198 mm tall, with a diameter of 173 mm and a weight of 2.6 kg. It also holds water, soil, air, two small cameras and a heat control system, Xie said.
More than 170 pictures have been taken by the cameras and sent back to Earth, according to the team.
Why were these species chosen?
Xie said potatoes could be a major source of food for future space travelers. The growth period of Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard, is short and easy to observe. Yeast could play a role in regulating carbon dioxide and oxygen in the mini biosphere, and the fruit fly would be a consumer of the photosynthesis process.
Researchers used biological technology to render the seeds and eggs dormant during the two months when the probe went through the final checks in the launch center and journey of more than 20 days through space.
After Chang'e-4 landed on the far side of the moon on Jan. 3, the ground control center instructed the probe to water the plants to start the growing process. A tube directs natural light on the surface of the moon into the canister to allow the plants to grow.
The Chang'e-4 probe entered a "sleep mode" on Sunday as the first lunar night after the probe's landing fell. The temperature could drop as low as about minus 170 degrees centigrade.
"Life in the canister would not survive the lunar night," Xie said.
The experiment has ended. The organisms will gradually decompose in the totally enclosed canister, and will not affect the lunar environment, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Although astronauts have cultivated plants on the International Space Station, and rice and Arabidopsis were grown on China's Tiangong-2 space lab, those experiments were conducted in low-Earth orbit, at an altitude of about 400 km. The environment on the moon, 380,000 kilometers from Earth, is more complex.
"We had no such experience before. And we could not simulate the lunar environment, such as microgravity and cosmic radiation, on Earth," Xie said.
Researchers expect the experiment may help acquire knowledge for building a lunar base and long-term residence on the moon.
Xie said the experiment was aimed at inspiring young people's enthusiasm for space exploration, and popularizing science such as photosynthesis.
The public, especially young people, have been encouraged to participate in the Chang'e-4 mission. The CNSA, the Ministry of Education, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Association for Science and Technology and other organizations launched a contest among students across China in 2015, collecting ideas on the design of the payloads. The "lunar mini biosphere" experiment was selected from more than 250 submissions.
China Great Wall industry to commercially launch 90 satellites for Satellogic.
Satellogic strikes Chinese deal to launch 90 satellites for Earth-watching network
Alan Boyle •January 15, 2019
An international space venture called says it will have 90 satellites launched by a Chinese company to create an Earth-observing constellation.
The first launch by the under the newly announced deal, scheduled for later this year, will deliver 13 satellites to low Earth orbit on China’s Long March 6 rocket, .
Satellogic’s constellation seems likely to compete with the remote-imaging satellite constellations operated by San Francisco-based and Seattle-based . The company promises to remap Earth at 1-meter pixel resolution every week and dramatically reduce the cost of high-frequency geospatial analytics.
“We want to help solve the world’s most pressing problems by building an accurate and up-to-date picture of our planet and the many forces that reshape it every day,” Satellogic founder and CEO Emiliano Kargieman said. “This agreement is a major step in realizing that vision.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
China Great Wall was established in 1980 with authorization from the Chinese government to provide commercial launch services and satellite systems as a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. The company has already launched a demonstration nanosatellite for Satellogic, as well as five larger satellites, and it’s due to send three more spacecraft into low Earth orbit this year under the terms of an earlier agreement.
“We’re proud to extend our highly successful working relationship with Satellogic,” Gao Ruofei, executive vice president of China Great Wall, said in today’s news release. “Satellogic’s constellation will introduce a new era of affordable Earth observation, just as the LM-6 will open new opportunities for the global space industry.”
U.S.-based satellite operators are generally . However, Satellogic’s headquarters and development facility is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and its satellite assembly facility is in Montevideo, Uruguay.
The company also has a data technology center in Barcelona, Spain; a product development center in Tel Aviv, Israel; and a business development center in Miami. Satellogic’s newest branch office, in Beijing, will focus on constellation customization, data services and industrial applications.
Satellogic says it employs more than 150 satellite engineers, solution specialists and experts in artificial intelligence. In 2017, the company led by Tencent, a Chinese investment holding company.
Like Planet and BlackSky, Satellogic is targeting satellite imaging applications in fields such as disaster response, oil and gas prospecting, infrastructure monitoring, forestry and agricultural crop assessment.
Satellogic strikes Chinese deal to launch 90 satellites for Earth-watching network
Alan Boyle •January 15, 2019
An international space venture called says it will have 90 satellites launched by a Chinese company to create an Earth-observing constellation.
The first launch by the under the newly announced deal, scheduled for later this year, will deliver 13 satellites to low Earth orbit on China’s Long March 6 rocket, .
Satellogic’s constellation seems likely to compete with the remote-imaging satellite constellations operated by San Francisco-based and Seattle-based . The company promises to remap Earth at 1-meter pixel resolution every week and dramatically reduce the cost of high-frequency geospatial analytics.
“We want to help solve the world’s most pressing problems by building an accurate and up-to-date picture of our planet and the many forces that reshape it every day,” Satellogic founder and CEO Emiliano Kargieman said. “This agreement is a major step in realizing that vision.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
China Great Wall was established in 1980 with authorization from the Chinese government to provide commercial launch services and satellite systems as a subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. The company has already launched a demonstration nanosatellite for Satellogic, as well as five larger satellites, and it’s due to send three more spacecraft into low Earth orbit this year under the terms of an earlier agreement.
“We’re proud to extend our highly successful working relationship with Satellogic,” Gao Ruofei, executive vice president of China Great Wall, said in today’s news release. “Satellogic’s constellation will introduce a new era of affordable Earth observation, just as the LM-6 will open new opportunities for the global space industry.”
U.S.-based satellite operators are generally . However, Satellogic’s headquarters and development facility is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and its satellite assembly facility is in Montevideo, Uruguay.
The company also has a data technology center in Barcelona, Spain; a product development center in Tel Aviv, Israel; and a business development center in Miami. Satellogic’s newest branch office, in Beijing, will focus on constellation customization, data services and industrial applications.
Satellogic says it employs more than 150 satellite engineers, solution specialists and experts in artificial intelligence. In 2017, the company led by Tencent, a Chinese investment holding company.
Like Planet and BlackSky, Satellogic is targeting satellite imaging applications in fields such as disaster response, oil and gas prospecting, infrastructure monitoring, forestry and agricultural crop assessment.
antiterror13
Brigadier
Hilarious. After shutting out Chinese scientist from US space science conferences since 2011, NASA embarrassingly asked China to extend the lifespan of China's Queqiao relay satellite from three to five years to facilitate the planning of an American moon mission and possibly use for NASA's own planned landing to far side of the moon.
according to Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's Lunar Exploration Program.
In an interview broadcast by state television CCTV on Sunday, he said NASA scientists had discussed a possible collaboration at an international conference "a few years ago," and that US scientists had asked to extend the lifespan of China's Queqiao relay satellite from three to five years to facilitate the planning of an American moon mission.
And why?
"Later, they said, feeling somewhat embarrassed, that they wanted to land on the far side of the moon too, so if we let (our relay satellite) operate longer they can also use it," he said.
The satellite in question aids in communications with a lander on the far side of the moon.
NASA scientists had also discussed possibly placing a beacon on the Chang'e 4 probe, he added.
In an interview broadcast by state television CCTV on Sunday, he said NASA scientists had discussed a possible collaboration at an international conference "a few years ago," and that US scientists had asked to extend the lifespan of China's Queqiao relay satellite from three to five years to facilitate the planning of an American moon mission.
And why?
"Later, they said, feeling somewhat embarrassed, that they wanted to land on the far side of the moon too, so if we let (our relay satellite) operate longer they can also use it," he said.
The satellite in question aids in communications with a lander on the far side of the moon.
NASA scientists had also discussed possibly placing a beacon on the Chang'e 4 probe, he added.
Last edited:
It is embarrassing, but I can't blame NASA scientists for it because the shutting-out of Chinese scientists were not NASA but US administration (Obama or Trump?) and congressmen. NASA actually invited Chinese scientists to their international conferences.
Scientists and Engineers care much less of national competition or the fake reasoning of security concerns, they want to speed up their research by working together.
That is not to say CNSA should give NASA a free ride, not at all. A fair bit of return (price) from NASA would be NASA sharing with CNSA their Mars landing data and experience for the upcoming Chinese Mars mission.
- Status